ISP Blog Post #4

As I analyze The Book Of Negroes from a post-colonial view, I see more of how the western world of classes is displayed in the novel. England is and still a developed nation when The Book Of Negroes was wrote, they included a rich white person that thought they were more superior to the blacks which is what is shown in The Book Of Negroes.

White people maintaining control over the black population displays how England is classified as being a "first-world" nation and Africa being a "third-world" nation. White people who owned her tossed Amanita from place to place. She was sold into slavery like many of the black population around her. Solomon Lindo says, "Exactly why I purchased you, I knew you would catch on fast. I saw intelligence in your eyes and I wanted to lift you up" (Hill 201). Against all odds Amanita became smart she learned to read and write which was not common for a black person because they were too busy working for their owners to learn that kind of stuff. Amanita is a woman and women had a lower social class then men and anyone who wasn't of European background was the lowest on the totem pole. Life wasn't easy for Amanita in a Westernized world considering she was treated badly by many whites. 

Personal and cultural identity is a huge part of Amanita's life that was changed. Her cultural identity that consisted of praying, her own African language, dances, food, clothing, and way of life was stripped from her own back. Amanita had to learn the ways of the westernized world, which included using money, which Amanita said, "Lindo explained that I could either barter for an object, or pay with copper, silver, or gold coins. This confused me. It made no sense to me that someone would prefer to be paid with a useless metal coin than with five chickens or a tierce of corn"(Hill 202). The white owners had no sympathy for personal identity of slaves. White owners almost never sat down to ask about there slaves past lives, because all the cared for was the work.

This text reveals how much the Africans that came to the westernized world have changed since being in Africa. The Africans that are in Sierra Leone question the new arrivals and cannot tell if Amanita was born in Africa or not. This is because Amanita had completely left her old life in order to be able to fit into the western world. Amanita had to change the clothes she wore, the food she ate, and how she talked. The cultural diffusion into the western world caused Amanita to be like a European. 

Amanita will never be completely free from white people now that she was in their culture and they will always be among her in Sierra Leone. The whites help the Negroes by sending food and supplies. The Negroes rely on the British to send them their supplies. Amanita is back in her homeland but she can still not escape her life with the whites. The British are the ones who govern them and will always be around. 

The dominant culture is always the one who will take over. In this case it is western culture. This is shown from Amanita, she is an Africa free born but was still taken and put in the westernized world were she became accustomed to their styles. When she is returned to Africa she is still assimilated in that culture and her homeland is affected by the westernized world.